Misty Music of McKay

Music from the Pacific Northwest!

McKay has an understated approach to long-form orchestral music, but it works for me.

The Native American influences are apparent, and a certain subtle brand of Americana is present too. The composer certainly does the Pacific Northwest proud with this music, providing his music with colorful title descriptions.

This first entry into McKay, from Naxos' American Classics series, led to three more, so interest must have been positive.

Oozy Channel Keep Honorary Explorer John McLaughlin Williams leads these as strongly as his other ventures with these Ukrainian players. Unfortunately, Naxos only had him back for one more recording of McKay.

A review from 2021

George Frederick McKay’s orchestral music on this American Classics Naxos release revolves around his beloved Pacific Northwest region of the US. His musical voice is of the tuneful, approachable variety, and more specifically, an open-vista-ed, panoramic symphonic scope with hints of folk song. Naxos has four releases of McKay’s output, one more with this conductor, but apparently none since 2008.

McKay seems to prefer atmosphere over flash, for this is where he tends to dwell. The 15-minute Moonlit Ceremony, using authentic Native American tunes, shows this aspect well, and his open-aired musical style is gorgeous. So too, is the 30-minute Harbor Narrative, a picturesque tour of Puget Sound. There is a bit more hustle and bustle here, summoning up Gershwin to some degree, but McKay always returns to his misty feelings of the harbor.

The meat of the program is the 3-movement, 25-minute ‘Symphony for Seattle’. All of McKay’s effects are put into a symphonic longform, and his original voice is just as captivating, if not a touch too sentimental and searching for my tastes. The first 2/3rds are an excellent feature of the orchestra’s front-desk solos, and McKay sends off the last third with some muscle.

John McLaughlin Williams and the National SO of Ukraine obviously have a strong rapport. Their six recordings on Naxos of Nicolas Flagello, Arnold Rosner, John Alden Carpenter, and Henry Hadley are all of such high quality and strength in a budget series that can be variable. Williams also seems to get an exorbitant amount of rehearsal and recording time with the Ukrainian ensemble, and the end product is always of utmost beauty and grandeur. It is no different here with McKay’s music, and Naxos’ sound captures everything quite well. All of the auxiliary percussion in Harbor comes through strongly, and the ensemble is balanced well.

Another strong entry from Naxos’ collaboration with John McLaughlin Williams and the NSO Ukraine. George McKay’s music has deserved its due notice in this series, and one can only hope for some more.

Works
From a Moonlit Ceremony (15.13)
Harbor Narrative (29.22)
Evocation Symphony 'Symphony for Seattle' (24.34)

Performers
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
John McLaughlin Williams, conductor

Label: Naxos
Year: 2001
Total Timing: 69.06

 

 

 The misty moods of McKay's music is inventive and interesting.

 The Pacific Northwest has always held a certain pictorial atmosphere in my mind.  Evinced from this music from an honest-to-goodness resident, apparently it holds sway over the locals too.

 

 

Find more McKay recordings HERE!